Luke Rockhold is feeling a bit uneasy with the UFC idling on the vacant No. 1 contender’s spot in the middleweight division.
The former Strikeforce champion seemingly convinced the world he was next in line after destroying former UFC light heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida in April. No other fighter before him had ever done that to Machida, an MMA legend and future Hall of Famer.
Rockhold, who is riding a four-fight win streak, also has dominant finishes over Michael Bisping, Tim Boetsch and Costas Philippou. It’s a resume fitting of a top contender. But a man from Rockhold‘s past is also in the running for UFC gold.
Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza has won eight fights in a row since losing his Strikeforce middleweight title to Rockhold in September 2011. While his quality of opposition isn’t quite up to par with Rockhold‘s, he has managed to snag big wins over Gegard Mousasi, Francis Carmont and Yushin Okami.
When speaking with UFC correspondent Megan Olivi, UFC President Dana White called Rockhold the No. 1 contender, but he said Souza would “probably” be the next man in line to challenge middleweight champion Chris Weidman. He quickly backpedaled on his comment when pressed for a decision between the two.
During an interview with MMAJunkie.com, Rockhold still seemed convinced he would be the next man standing across the cage from Weidman:
I don’t know what the hell they’re doing, but it’s guaranteed that that’s my shot. It’s happening. They’ll be a date locked down soon. We’re fighting. I talked to Dana, and we got some things coming.
Perhaps Rockhold was able to do some last-minute convincing to jump back into the forefront of the title picture. If anything, his win over Souza in Strikeforce could be a major factor in the UFC’s final decision.
Jordy McElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He also is the MMA writer for FanRag Sports and co-founder of The MMA Bros.
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